HOOVER, Ala. - The things that carried them through much of the season were the things that failed them in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
The UF baseball team is two and barbecue after two disappointing showings in the SEC Tournament, but for once the blame cannot be laid at the feet of the oft-maligned bullpen.
For one, the starting pitching that had been so solid finally faltered. After Patrick Keating suffered his first loss of the season on Wednesday, fellow right-hander Billy Bullock could not find the same success against South Carolina that he'd had against the same team in Columbia.
Coach Kevin O'Sullivan acknowledged that the early deficits played a major part in UF's inability to claw thei way back in either game.
"It's tough to play from behind against anyone," he said. "It wasn't the runs that hurt so much as allowing them to have a big inning like that."
Together, Keating and Bullock allowed 11 runs, 10 of which were earned, in 7.1 innings of work. It was a far cry from their usual performances.
Just as importantly, the Gators' pesky and efficient lineup failed to come through in the clutch. They stranded almost an entire roster's worth of players - 22 - in their two losses.
It all started at the top of the lineup with junior Avery Barnes, who for the majority of the season has been the sparkplug to crank up the UF offense. After a single in his first at-bat and a stolen base to manufacture the Gators' first run of the tournament, Barnes only reached base once more through two games, on a walk in the eighth inning against Vanderbilt.
Barnes wasn't the only one to struggle, though. Freshman Josh Adams recorded the only hit of his first college postseason in his last at-bat Thursday against South Carolina. The designated hitter slot proved to be a hole in the lineup, with no hits to speak of from a spot in the order that is supposed to be productive.
From the fourth spot down to the ninth slot in the lineup, the Gators were a paltry 8-for-46 for a .174 batting average.
The only bright spots came from shortstop Cole Figueroa, who was 4-for-7 with two RBIs in both games, and first baseman Brandon McArthur, who was 3-for-7 with three RBIs in the tournament.
And after seeing his 13-game hitting streak snapped against Vanderbilt on Wednesday, centerfielder Matt den Dekker broke out with a 3-for-4 performance against South Carolina and also made some impressive catches in the outfield.
The Gamecock's coach Ray Tanner expressed his respect for both Figueroa and den Dekker.
"Those guys are great hitters," Tanner said. "If you make a pitch on them, they don't swing at it. "They just accepted that if he made the pitch, then that was his pitch and I'm gonna get a pitch. That's just what good players do."
But if the Gators hope to make some noise in the NCAA Tournament, they are going to need more than those two players to step up.
O'Sullivan said he was confident that Barnes and the other mainstays of the UF lineup would have great weekends in regional action.
"It's obviously a disappointment," McArthur said of the early exit. It's not exactly what we wanted to do, but I think we came out here ready to play."
